Darren White at 2008 John McCain campaign stop. (photo by Steve Terrell/Flickr)

A lot of ink has been spilled over the potential change in the Albuquerque police department’s policy on when officers may check a person’s immigration status.

Mayor-elect Richard Berry has said he would allow police officers to use their own discretion when asking someone about their status, pointing to the Bernalillo County  Sheriff’s Department as the model he wanted to follow.

Berry’s appointment Tuesday of Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White as his chief public safety officer, overseeing both the fire and police departments, indicates that the mayor-elect meant what he said.

In an interview with the Independent shortly before last week’s municipal election, White explained his policy as the Bernalillo County Sheriff as to when deputies can ask about immigration status.

Deputies are not allowed to check the immigration status of victims and witnesses, White said.

“I know that there is a community of immigrants not here legally residing in my jurisdiction,” he said. “I could not in good conscience subscribe to a policy that may lead to a victim not reporting harm that is happening to them. So we do not check the status of victims, or witnesses.”

Otherwise his deputies can check the status of people they suspect of a crime, which includes the crime of giving false identification on a traffic stop, White said. There’s a number they can call, he said, to check.

If an arrest is made his deputies are required to contact Homeland Security if they have suspicions, he said.

“If a deputy arrests somebody who they have reason to believe is in the country illegally, they’re required to contact Homeland Security,” White said.

His department simply gives a head’s up, he said, and then sends them to Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where federal authorities make the check.

“They have a liaison there [at the Metropolitan Detention Center], but I still want the deputies to ask,” he said. “I’ve been very clear, if you’re here illegally you need to be deported.”

Asked if such questioning can occur on simple traffic stops, White said that it’s not common but his deputies are authorized to ask about immigration status if they feel it’s necessary.

“They are not to target or stop anyone on the suspicion of an immigration violation, but if they for some reason aren’t comfortable with a traffic stop, well, a traffic stop is technically an arrest,” he said. “It doesn’t happen often, but let’s say they suspected someone was falsely identifying themselves. The next question is, why?”

There was one instance, he recalled, when such a check was made.

“Someone was stopped, and it was clear the information they gave was fake,” he said. “The deputy made the decision to contact Homeland Security, and detained the person while they did it.”

Questioning in the context of traffic stops is rare, White reiterated. But it’s important for officers to ask if they suspect someone is concealing their identity because it “may be that they’re here illegally and they’re a fugitive,” he said.

“This is a very big problem in the country,” he said, “we need to get these people off our streets. I see this as the responsibility of any public safety officer.”